2004

2004 was a landmark year for The Gladiatorz. Runescape Classic was replaced by a newer, improved version which had areas within the wilderness that allowed multiple clan members to attack their opposition at once, bringing in new tactics to wars and completely changing the clan scene forever. This presented a new challenge for The Gladiatorz to master which was accepted with open arms and the new Runescape would soon be put to the test by an intense year of wars against several large clans. With four strong leaders - Jerico, Joe Jenninz, The Rocket and Sneaky One - The Gladiatorz were ready for anything that Jagex's game could throw at them.

At the beginning of the year, Runescape Classic was still the main version used by players where tactics that had been perfected for several years - since the very early days of Runescape - were still in use. The Gladiatorz were set to war Zeonic Force at this time at the Prayer House/Rat Town providing a worthy climax for The Gladiatorz on Runescape Classic, a home to many of our members and ex-members where everything had started three years before in 2001. The war was very intense as both clans pulled very high options and fought against each other (and MI) with no mercy but The Gladiatorz walked out victorious again to finish Runescape Classic on a positive note.

Around this time at the beginning of the year, many changes occurred within The Alliance. After being allied with 'The' Clan, The Darq Syde and BlacKnights for a while, Clan Jaguar finally allied with The Gladiatorz to become a complete member of The Alliance on January 6th, 2004. However, The Darq Syde left The Alliance one month later due to various problems but within one week, Lunar Wolves were brought in as a replacement (February 12th, 2004) and The Alliance grew much stronger. Sadly, this was not to last long either; Lunar Wolves stayed for just over a month and left in the Spring of 2004 (March 22nd, 2004). Their reason for leaving: "it seems to us that the classical 'top-down hierarchy' which is favoured in most clans is not compatible with our way of ruling our clan." Excluding BlacKnights, they were the last clan to leave The Alliance.

The first time the new Runescape warring system would be tested was a war against Mystic Dynasty behind the Greater Demons after Mystic Dynasty declared war on The Gladiatorz in May 2004. The war took place on June 12th, 2004 and as it was specified that no allies could be brought to the fight, Mystic Dynasty merged with several other clans at the last minute in order to avoid this rule and to have a larger turnout. Although The Gladiatorz didn't have brilliant organization, it surpassed that of Mystic Dynasty and The Gladiatorz walked out as clear victors which then led to an infamous topic where Mystic Dynasty were accused of "chesting" in a classic Gladz moment.

Around the Summer of 2004, allegiances were very strong within Runescape with several notable groups such as The Alliance ('The', Gladz, BK, Jagz) and The Golden Alliance (CoR, Exer, Anarchy, MD). After several crashings and disruptions, The Alliance (and The Mighty Red Dragons) declared on Exercitum, Corruption and any allies that they wished to bring (Damage Incorporated and Legendary Knights attended also). In this fight, The Alliance showed up in vastly superior numbers and The Golden Helms & Allies could not withstand the power which The Alliance brought, thus giving The Alliance a resounding victory over some of our most bitter rivals.

Many other landmark events also occurred within the summer of 2004. The first of these changes, although not the largest, was when Scapeboard moved over to Tip.it, as it was the most used fansite in the clan world at the time. Unsurprisingly, some of the larger changes that occurred were the appointments of Echo69x and Lord Noah as Leader. Their promotions were announced in August 2004 and it was the only time in the history of The Gladiatorz where leaders were chosen by a clanwide vote. Around this time, another advancement was brought into the warring techniques of The Gladiatorz as our first TeamSpeak server was purchased on August 29th, 2004, allowing greater organization in wars and for members to chat to each other while training and build a stronger community.

However, the year was not yet over for The Gladiatorz which was vastly growing in strength, so in October 2004, The Gladiatorz waged war against Zeonic Force, a long-time rival who The Gladiatorz had previously beaten on Runescape Classic earlier that year. This meant that the stakes were high and to ensure victory, The Gladiatorz managed to pull around 120 people to the war which contrasted sharply with a turnout of around 70-80 by Zeonic Force. However, Zeonic Force had many very high levels and put up a very good fight but the numbers and organization of The Gladiatorz prevailed and victory was secured. Despite this loss, Zeonic Force still continued to be a dominant force in the clan world and beat Damage Incorporated in April 2005 before closing in June of that year.

At the end of 2004 The Gladiatorz stood strong admist the year's changes, our will and determination were unrivaled and as a clan we were ready to face any and all challengers. We would need to remain solid because over the next year we would be put to the test by such clans as Dark Slayers and The Dynasty.